Life is not measured ....

Our big trip south

Go back a couple of weeks from here, Ben and I had just had two days to ourselves in Christchurch and on Friday night we drove down to Tekapo to join up with Mollie and Paul and the kids. Since then we have covered 2100km, from Tekapo to Queenstown, Te Anau, Milford Sound and Oamaru, in fact most of the island south of Christchurch, only the Caitlins and the Otago Peninsula remain in our list to see. Below gives you a rough idea of where we went:



We have been to Tekapo a couple of times now, once when Ben did his arm in and the second time when we discovered Parkbrae Estate, with lovely views across the lake and with the Church of the Good Shepherd just across the road.

Mollie and Paul spent their first day with the children down at the lake and enjoying the gardens of the cottage and then on the second went up to Mt Cook National Park.

On the third day when we met up with them, we ventured out to see the cliffs at Omarama, en route passing the base of Lake Pukaki with views directly up the lake to Mt Cook (we never tire of this one). To get to the cliffs, we had a 10km drive down a dirt track, Ben’s clean car now looks like a dust cart, but the cliffs were impressive and we took a good walk around before driving on to the shore of Lake Benmore for a picnic lunch.

Photos from Tekapo and Omarama

(copyright Mt John Observatory)

The drive from Tekapo to Queenstown is a fairly long stint at 4 hours, shortly after leaving we pass round the base of Lake Pukaki once again and get our last view of Mt Cook. We have travelled this road before but it is quite different in the summer compared to the winter. The roadside is a wash of pink, purple, yellow and white, with mile after mile of lupins. We enter the Lindis Pass, less rugged than the other mountain passes we have been through with a gentle incline and roads that sweep through the rolling mountains. The lunch stop that I have selected turns out to be one of my less good ideas: Bendigo is an old gold mining settlement but another unsealed road (Ben’s low to the ground sports car objects a bit to the deep pits on the track and we park up at the earliest opportunity) and the rain which pelts down just as we stop means that we have a quick walk round the remains and then we crack on. The next stretch of road is lined with vineyards, we notice that a couple of them have what look like mini wind turbines, we work out that they must be used to enerate wind in the cold months to keep the air moving and prevent frost (usually they use helicopters for this job). From Cromwell, we follow the Kawarau river almost all the way into Queenstown. The river passes through the steep Kawarau gorge and we stop to look at the water gushing out at a point called Roaring Meg. The Kawarau Bridge, 43m above the river, is the site of the world's first commercial bungee jumping operation (and no I’m not even remotely tempted!) and Shotover River, well known for the Shotover Jet Boat, flows into it from the north.

Queenstown is a pleasant surprise: labelled as the “Adventure Capital of the World” and a major tourist spot in New Zealand, I had expected it to be crammed full of people and cheap souvenir shops. Certainly you could spend a packet here if you decided to put the label to the test but if like us you are more interested in the scenery, it’s a great place to visit.

Queenstown is situated on the shores of Lake Wakatipu and our apartment is just out of town across the road from the lake and with views across to the Remarkables Mountain range. On the first evening, we jump at the “honk” of the steamboat the TSS Earnslaw as it arrives back into Queenstown and the next day we take a trip out on the boat across the lake to Walter Peak Homestead for a tour around the farm (sheep shearing, demonstration of dog skills and feeding the lambs and then shoving them back into the field, all good fun for the kids).


The following day we drove up the lake to Glenorchy, the location of some of the filming of the Lord of the Rings.

Queenstown and Te Anau Photos


In between all this we found time to wander into the town, Daniel played football in the park with some older lads and both Louise and Daniel spent the evenings after dinner, practising skimming stones.

From here we take a 2 day detour down to Te Anau and then return to Queenstown on our way back north to Christchurch. Te Anau, is again located on a lake, the largest in the South Island. We stay in a cottage on Blue Mountain Farm and Louise and Daniel enjoy meeting the dogs, playing on the trampoline (generally making themselves at home!) and feeding the chickens. Across Lake Te Anau are the glow-worm caves. Inside the caves are a series of walkways and a fast flowing underground waterfall. At the end of the walkway, we board a small boat and weave our way around the glowworm grotto, pitch black except for the tiny luminous green light given off by the hundreds of glowworms.

Our main reason for coming this far south is to visit Milford Sound. We actually end up going twice, the first time from Te Anau in the mist and the rain and then two days later from Queenstown to see it in the sun.

Milford Sound on a wet misty day
Queenstown to Milford Sound and back on a sunny day

After 8 days, the inevitable starts to dawn on us and we start to wind our way back to Christchurch, staying a night in Queenstown and Oamaru on the way home.

Photos from Oamaru, Moeraki Boulders and back in Christchurch

posted by Sharon, Ben, Louise and Daniel @ 11:10 pm